International transfer of money - my experience today

[Cloggie]

Decided to post this because sometimes I read horror stories on this forum about transferring money so today my experience.

Today around 02:30pm I transfered money from HSBC Singapore => Krungsri Bank in Bangkok who will 'transfer' it to my bank account in Chonburi.

Within 10 minutes I received a telephone call from Krungsri Bank in Bangkok regarding this transfer and 5 minutes later I had my money on my bank account in Thailand and could use it.

It only took me 15 minutes to transfer the money, quite fast if I see people waiting days for it!

[jacky54]

or weeks

[Sviss Geez]

or weeks

No-one waits weeks for the proceeds of a normal international transfer. Funds arrive in my Bangkok Bank account, cleared and available, every month from an Australian company within minutes of it being sent. If the transfer clashes with closing hours here I get an SMS from BBL without fail at 8.30am the next day to let me know the funds arrived overnight.

[Cloggie]

Forget to mention that, I receive SMS from Singapore that it transferred the money and then minutes later from Krungsri that I received the money, very convenient in my opinion and safe!

I say 'safe' as from every withdraw from ATM or transfer / receive from my bank account I receive an SMS - any unauthorised transaction I will see immediately because of the SMS I receive.

[hhgz]

" I read horror stories on this forum about transferring money..."

​The stories are provided by people who only read the stories, and have never down a SWIFT transfer. Your experience mirrors mine.

[tinhead]

Thai Baht? I find USD flows quite quickly but may rely on an intermediary bank.

[oneday]

My regular transfers from the US happen like clockwork now. Around 8-9pm at night I make the transfer by calling an 800 number in the US via Skype so free. It is all automated and takes about 6 minutes. This had to be setup in person before I moved to Thailand. The cost is $45 for a wire transfer regardless of the amount transferred so I transfer a large amount making the $45 fee negligible. By the afternoon of the following day the money has arrived in my account at BKK bank. The money comes in anywhere from 2-6pm. Only once did it come in as late as 6pm. It's usually in by 3pm. The fees on this end of the transfer are very minimal.

The effective exchange rate ends up being about equal to a Traveler Check; better than exchanging cash on the street. I can usually guess my exchange rate by looking at XE.COM and subtracting .17 and I'm almost always within .01 baht of the effective exchange rate.

Edited December 26, 2014 by oneday

[Farang99]

I receive regular monthly transfers from UK and have never had any problems in 16 years. There may be a delay of a couple of days if the transfer is at a weekend, when it does not register till the Monday, but that is trivial.

[ThaiSanookGuy]

It always take days at least to transfer from US to Thailand...

[DrDave]

It always take days at least to transfer from US to Thailand...

No it doesn't. It depends upon how you send the funds.

When I send via wire transfer, I get an SMS from BBL the next morning confirming the receipt of funds in my account, provided I initiated the wire transfer request prior to the daily cutoff time.

If you use BBL's New York branch (via the US ACH system), then there are 2 delays - one from your US bank in sending the ACH transaction, and one from BBL transferring the funds internally to your account in Thailand. For example, if the source bank in the US is BofA, the "normal" processing time for an ACH transaction is 3 business days. You have to pay extra if you want them to send it any sooner. On the BBL side, I think the delay is only about 1 business day.

[pmarlin]

It always take days at least to transfer from US to Thailand...

Not in my case. I get next day using SWIFT or ACH. The only delay is the difference in time. Have to wait for the banks to open. I make a transfer after 9pm here in Thailand and have the money next day when the Thai banks open. Been like that for years.

[kkup]

Are you guys all doing it via your bank or a 3rd party?

[Fab5BKK]

Depends on the banks and countries... I had bad experience transferring money from Ireland to Thailand (average: 8 days), while, with other banks, from the UK to Thailand: 1 day.

Anyway transferring money to Thailand is much easier (done 100% online) than transferring money from Thailand.

[Coota]

or weeks

No-one waits weeks for the proceeds of a normal international transfer. Funds arrive in my Bangkok Bank account, cleared and available, every month from an Australian company within minutes of it being sent. If the transfer clashes with closing hours here I get an SMS from BBL without fail at 8.30am the next day to let me know the funds arrived overnight.

[Coota]

or weeks

No-one waits weeks for the proceeds of a normal international transfer. Funds arrive in my Bangkok Bank account, cleared and available, every month from an Australian company within minutes of it being sent. If the transfer clashes with closing hours here I get an SMS from BBL without fail at 8.30am the next day to let me know the funds arrived overnight.

Mate, can I ask you what the Australian Company is that you get your money from? Is it your superannuation company? Reason I'm asking is, I'm soon to start receiving a regular pension from my self funded super and I was trying to work out the best way to receive it. I am currently using OzForex to transfer money to my Kasikorn Bank and pay no fees on amounts over $10,000.00. My super company tell me that they can transfer my pension to my bank account in Thailand but I am worried that I will not get a good exchange rate. Thanks.

[Nowisee]

The last part has been my experience too.

But, for the life of me, I can NEVER figure out what the rate of exchange is or how much Bank of Bangkok is charging me in fees... or all the fees associated with this transaction.

I don't think my bank charges me anything. it never comes up on my account summary.

It always take days at least to transfer from US to Thailand...

No it doesn't. It depends upon how you send the funds.

When I send via wire transfer, I get an SMS from BBL the next morning confirming the receipt of funds in my account, provided I initiated the wire transfer request prior to the daily cutoff time.

If you use BBL's New York branch (via the US ACH system), then there are 2 delays - one from your US bank in sending the ACH transaction, and one from BBL transferring the funds internally to your account in Thailand. For example, if the source bank in the US is BofA, the "normal" processing time for an ACH transaction is 3 business days. You have to pay extra if you want them to send it any sooner. On the BBL side, I think the delay is only about 1 business day.

[LookChang]

Every month I make a wire transfer in Euro from my bank in France, it is credited the next morning to my bank In Bangkok in baht and the change rate is very correct.

[Jeffrey346]

It always take days at least to transfer from US to Thailand...

No it doesn't. It depends upon how you send the funds.

When I send via wire transfer, I get an SMS from BBL the next morning confirming the receipt of funds in my account, provided I initiated the wire transfer request prior to the daily cutoff time.

If you use BBL's New York branch (via the US ACH system), then there are 2 delays - one from your US bank in sending the ACH transaction, and one from BBL transferring the funds internally to your account in Thailand. For example, if the source bank in the US is BofA, the "normal" processing time for an ACH transaction is 3 business days. You have to pay extra if you want them to send it any sooner. On the BBL side, I think the delay is only about 1 business day.

I use the same process. My bank in America transfers to BKK NY in 3 business days and charges me $1.50. BKK Bank NY charges me $5.00 about B150 . BKK Bank Thailand charges me B200 and I have the cash in my account on the 3rd business day from the date it was sent from my US Bank.. Excluding weekends and holidays.

[poweratradio]

or weeks

Your cost was how much and your method of transfer between 2 different banks is not noted either.. Just the facts jack! Not how pleased your were in the timely manner you received it. Just the fact you did is important but more details required

[poweratradio]

Every month I make a wire transfer in Euro from my bank in France, it is credited the next morning to my bank In Bangkok in baht and the change rate is very correct.

Cost?????

[maidee]

the horror story is not of bringing it in, but an in: taking it out ... let's say you have a million dollars here and you get 3% annualy ... and you don't spend that much money

and off course, your wife is a chinese hiso, so she does not come to beg you for money everytime she wants or need something...

so how do you take out that intrest money ?

[abrahamzvi]

or weeks

It really depends on the receiving Thai bank. I have a fixed amount transferred from my bank in NY to Bangkok Bank, which is done through Bangkok bank NY (who charge $10 for this "service") and it takes about a day for the amount to be credited to my account. I sometimes transfer on line money from a bank in Germany to Kasikorn bank, which gets there within 3-4 hours. Well, let's face it it's the same all over the world. It depends on the banks concerned.

[LookChang]

Every month I make a wire transfer in Euro from my bank in France, it is credited the next morning to my bank In Bangkok in baht and the change rate is very correct.

Cost?????

16 Euros

[hawker9000]

My regular transfers from the US happen like clockwork now. Around 8-9pm at night I make the transfer by calling an 800 number in the US via Skype so free. It is all automated and takes about 6 minutes. This had to be setup in person before I moved to Thailand. The cost is $45 for a wire transfer regardless of the amount transferred so I transfer a large amount making the $45 fee negligible. By the afternoon of the following day the money has arrived in my account at BKK bank. The money comes in anywhere from 2-6pm. Only once did it come in as late as 6pm. It's usually in by 3pm. The fees on this end of the transfer are very minimal.

The effective exchange rate ends up being about equal to a Traveler Check; better than exchanging cash on the street. I can usually guess my exchange rate by looking at XE.COM and subtracting .17 and I'm almost always within .01 baht of the effective exchange rate.

Working about the same for me (except I pay no wire xfr or other charges). The only delay I typically experience is waiting for the banks to open in Thailand before the actual deposit in my thai account is made.

[poweratradio]

Every month I make a wire transfer in Euro from my bank in France, it is credited the next morning to my bank In Bangkok in baht and the change rate is very correct.

Cost?????

16 Euros

Could you break that down as it seems a little pricey and perhaps a member could help you.

[Andrew65]

On December 23rd I transferred a sizeable amount (about US$18,000), to Bangkok Bank from CitiBank in Singapore. I used internet banking and SWIFT (I did this in anticipation of acquiring a "extension based on retirement visa"). I made the transfer at roughly 12:15pm, when I checked my balance at 16:15 the same day, the money was there .

[Andrew65]

On December 23rd I transferred a sizeable amount (about US$18,000), to Bangkok Bank from CitiBank in Singapore. I used internet banking and SWIFT (I did this in anticipation of acquiring a "extension based on retirement visa"). I made the transfer at roughly 12:15pm, when I checked my balance at 16:15 the same day, the money was there .

Further to my previous post, the bank in Singapore (US Dollar base currency), change the money in Singapore, at what they say is a preferential rate, then the money is transferred in Baht. Anyway, I got it at 32.6 Baht/Dollar.

[Si Thea01]

I receive monthly interest on my savings account in Australia and this always goes into my account of a Friday. I transferred this in dollars, normally around 11.00am the same day but would not receive it until the following Tuesday. This was no big deal but as the dollars were exchanged for baht upon being deposited in my Krung Thai account, a few days could see me get a lesser amount then was indicated on the Friday or sometimes I'd get a little higher, so it normally balanced itself out over the year.

One Friday morning I did the transfer around 4.00am and I received the funds at 10.00am the same day. I tried it again on another occasion around 1.00am, on the Friday and received the funds at 5.30pm the same day in Thailand. Never had it as quick as the OP. I always get an SMS from Australia and have to input a number into the internet file before the transaction is finalised and I also get an SMS from the Thai bank when the amount is deposited. Never had any dramas in the ten years I've been transferring funds here?

[Maestro]

Forget to mention that, I receive SMS from Singapore that it transferred the money and then minutes later from Krungsri that I received the money, very convenient in my opinion and safe!

I say 'safe' as from every withdraw from ATM or transfer / receive from my bank account I receive an SMS - any unauthorised transaction I will see immediately because of the SMS I receive.

Is this SMS advice from Krungsri free of charge?

[muffy]

I write a personal check to me at the Kbank , it then takes 45 days max Usually 30 ) to be in my Thai account . It is not for anybody that needs money . Total charge $10.00 ( by K bank) no matter the amount , so I write big checks .